2011 2500 rearend slack

Cuzdutz · August 24, 2017

My 2011 2500 has slack in the rearend, u joint are good, oil is good, rearend a little warm but barely, I can rock truck about 8 inches to a foot with it in park and checked rearend has 1/8 to 1/4 turn slack and it shutters sometimes going slow or in reverse

RestorationRides · August 24, 2017

My 2011 2500 has slack in the rearend, u joint are good, oil is good, rearend a little warm but barely, I can rock truck about 8 inches to a foot with it in park and checked rearend has 1/8 to 1/4 turn slack and it shutters sometimes going slow or in reverse

Wow! That is a lot of play! You're not mentioning whether or not there are noise-related symptoms...?

I'm doing some quick math in my head. If your rims are 17 inches then your tires are about 31 inches OD. That would put the circumference of the tire at about eight feet.

If your axle ratio is about 4 to 1, then 1 complete rotation of the driveshaft should rotate the tires about 1/4 of a complete rotation while moving the truck forward (or back) about 2 feet (assuming there is no slack in the differential) So if the truck is can be moved almost a foot in total before the driveshaft takes up the slack and starts rotating, (in either direction) there's clearly something very wrong!

Also, "shuddering" is not a common symptom of excessive differential clearance. Shuddering usually comes from problems in the clutch assembly or flywheel pilot bushing or loose motor / transmission mounts or a middle drive shaft bearing on a two piece driveshaft where it or the rubber donut has failed.

In my estimation, the problem is not in the clearancing of the differential gears themselves. If there was that much clearance in the ring and pinion set, it wouldn't propel the vehicle anymore and would likely be making horrible noises.

I've got a couple ideas here. I'm thinking maybe the yoke on the differential that you bolt the driveshaft up to has somehow started slipping on its (failed key) pinion shaft...? Or one of the axles has sheared and only the limited-slip is preventing all of the rotation from flowing to the failed axle...?

Regards,

Restoration Rides

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